AIBU to think this intimidating house buying letter should be reported to police?

[Blopi]

Friend’s elderly neighbours came back from holiday to find a letter delivered by person. It has made them upset and frightened.

It was addressed to them personally Mr and Mrs (surname)
They said that their home is too big for the couple and would be suitable for a 5 bedroom HMO. Willing to pay £Xk for it (properties have been selling for 10-15% more) and will visit them on Thursday at 11am to discuss things. Signed by Mr (common surname). No phone number or email address.

Her neighbours have zero intention of moving home as they have lived there for 58 years. They are upset on how they are targeted and wondering how did they get their names?

In the past I had these letters which have been sent to others down the estate. Though not intimidating like this letter, nor personalised.

Unfortunately my friend is working on Thursday. She would have loved to have seen if the person turned up and told

Should my friend phone the police on the non emergency line about this? As maybe something else dodgy going on

I would ignore it.

Yes I would. They’re elderly, vulnerable and could be violently pressured into something they don’t want to do. I’d tell the police about the 11am visit as well, and I’d make sure they had someone else or multiple people during that time

Same.

No, you tell them to but the letter in recycling where it belongs, and encourage them to put it out of their mind.
Just because some dillybar announced there coming to see you /want to buy your house/jealous of the situation doesn't mean you have to entertain it.
Its not a police summons, it's not a court summons, it's so chancer. Treat it as such.

Seeing as the couple have gone out and told their neighbour (your friend) about this and have said that they are worried then yes, I would report it to get them some support. And I’d definitely have someone there on Thursday to help them. If the HMO developer knows they are elderly, they could be planning to be very pushy. How presumptive to just announce that they will turn up to discuss it as if it’s a done deal.

Can your friend tell the police, and help the couple to have a friend or neighbour be available on Thursday?

Agreed. They probably sent out lots of letters like this. If this person shows up, they can simply refuse to speak to him.

The owners would be wise to sign up to the Land Registry Alert Service, so they can be certain nobody is doing anything untoward with their property. Everyone should do this really!

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert

Names is easy surely? Electoral roll

I think the police should be contacted.

I think there’s loads of dodgy stuff on social media, courses etc about get rich quick stuff. Not being a developer etc where they basically apply for planning etc and then get a massive cut. We have a really large garden where there is space in theory to build another house and I often get letters from companies that if you google, they’ve just been set up. It’s kind of like an MLM scheme.

I think that letter is very aggressive though and I would contact the police, it’s hard to ignore if they just turn up on the doorstep. If they are no help. I’d be tempted to leave a letter on the door saying that they have no intention of sellling and if they continue to contact you you’ll be calling the police or something along those lines.

I would definitely report this to the police on the non-emergency line. It might provider further evidence for something they're already aware of. If humanly possible, I'd have somebody younger and tougher in the house at the time of the 'appointment'. It would do no harm at all for the scammers to see that there are concerned people around this elderly couple. Scammers are looking for easy targets and unfortunately there are plenty about.

Should my friend phone the police on the non emergency line about this?

Yeah, I think she probably should, so the police have time to sort something out. Obviously being elderly doesn’t mean that they aren’t more than capable of telling Mr Common Surname to fuck right off when he arrives on Thursday, but as it has upset and frightened them, not least because they don’t understand how easy it is to get someone’s surname, it doesn’t sound like they’d be able to do this.

Tell the police what? That someone has informed them that they intend to knock their door? That's not illegal. Have them be out or have someone there to answer the door if they're too intimidated by the letter to deal with it themselves.

Given that the people are elderly and therefore likely to be vulnerable then I’d ring the police non-emergency line for advice. It would be helpful to have a younger person in the house in case these people do turn up on their doorstep.

It’s all very well saying bin the letter but when vulnerable people are involved things can take a dark turn.

What on earth do you think the police are going to do?!

It's disgusting.

There's huge incentives for landlords for big homes to turn them into HMOs .. they get significantly more income, which is of course all paid for by the taxpayer.

This man who wrote the letter knows this and is probably contacting all the elderly owners of all large properties in the area.

I’d phone non emergency line for advice. Unless the police specifically contradict me, this is what I’d do

definitely get someone (male and muscular preferably) to be there to receive the ‘guests’
On the driveway not within the house though. Recorded and get details of the car. Tell them that the police have been informed and that any further contact will be viewed as harassment

I think it should be reported to the police non emergency line.

I think the letter is wholly inappropriate.

Providing a contact number should they wish to discuss further is the way to go, not dictating to them.

Cheeky fxxkers.

Police should absolutely be there to help when vulnerable members of the community have been told that they’ll be getting a visit they don’t want to discuss something they don’t want to discuss. The police should absolutely be doing things like this within the community and I think we should be asking them to, so even if they don’t help, it is at least recorded that they have been asked for help by the community and haven’t provided it. Maybe it will bring change eventually and we will get community policing and support back.

I think they should have someone with them when this cheeky character knocks on the door. He should know they aren’t without friends.

Honestly the police will laugh them out of the door.

The amount of times people go on about “logging with 101” is hillarious.

The electoral role is a matter of public record. Estate agents do this stuff all the time, people selling stuff, politicians canvassing during the elections, I know at least two of our reform candidates wrote to me personally 😂.

What they do is bin the letter and think “what tossers.” Then carry on with their lives.

How are HMO landlords receiving all their income from the tax payer? They’d only get taxpayer money if any if the tenants were claiming housing costs through universal credit. And a lot of landlords still don’t accept anyone claiming UC if they can avoid it.

Ate you thinking of housing associations? Because even housing associations and council houses have tenants in them who don’t all claim universal credit. Plenty of people are paying rent on a housing association property from their salary, not from benefits.

I think this is really bad advice. It’s asking two people who the OP describes as frightened and worried, to stand up to a property developer who is pushy enough to inform them that their house is too big for them and he’ll be paying under the market value. The author of the letter is clearly pushing his luck and I suspect he’s fully aware there’s not a big, burly man who’ll be answering the door on Thursday, ready to give him a clump if he doesn’t clear off.

It’s relying on the house owners to be able to refuse to give him a moment of their time, and to tell him very firmly to piss off. Or to leave them worrying about who is going to be outside every time they open their door.

This letter has just popped up on my Facebook feed also. I was a tad sceptical and seeing it here as well feels even more like a made up thing doing the rounds now….

HMOs are usually not paticularly nice places to live. They are more of a last resort. People who can afford to pay their own rent don't tend to end up living in them.